Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Bloodlight

Two days of travelling, and he still hadn't arrived to the head. He was definitely getting close though. The data readings were consistent along the way, and so was the scenery, but as boring as it was it was better than some of the stuff he'd seen. He wasn't spending all his time just walking of course, and he definitely wasn't sleeping or eating there, but it being that big was still impressive.

He had to thank Twilight for coming up with a stable spell to mark where he'd gotten and take him back there when he got back. Of course such marked teleportation spells weren't anything new, but a version that managed to adapt seamlessly to the difference in scale and all the other oddities the Behemoth posed was still some impressive work.

He'd never been that close to one of them, and certainly not for that long. It was surprising how much it wasn't actually affecting him all that much, again impressive work on Twilight's part in terms of her protection spell. Perhaps the truly impressive part wasn't that it managed to protect him, but that it did so for so long without really draining him. Twilight did have a lot of talent for fine-tuning her work, he'd come to learn.

What was he expecting to find once he actually got to the head? He didn't really know. Whatever it was, it would be worth something. Even just it being nothing would be worth something. Insight on the Behemoth, even if it turned out there was nothing distinguishing different portions of its anatomy, was always worthwhile. And if it was different, that could potentially give them a lot more info. No such thing as useless information with something they knew so little of. He did wonder what it might be like to look it in the eye, if it even had eyes.

He'd met more clearly animated abominations before, some seemingly close to sapience. He'd not stuck around to verify, on that one, and he hoped the ponies of that world never accidentally opened a portal there. Though it was a fear reserved for whoever ended up going through, and not for the world as a whole. Creatures like the Behemoth, as far as he'd seen, didn't seem prone in any way to crossing into other worlds.

Even ignoring the overcomplicated and frightening mess that was thinking through what might happen if one of them interacted with a portal, he felt there might be something more to it, something tied to their nature. He'd always dismissed interpretations putting them as divine punishments as the unreasonable and superstitious assumptions they were, but he couldn't help wondering if there wasn't some truth in something similar.

They were not the product of any god, but he did wonder if there was something more to them. An origin, and a will there perhaps. Something sending them to different worlds, a purpose to their existence. But who could wish for destruction on such a scale, and who could have the means to generate such creatures in so large numbers? Maybe he would never give them the title, but if someone was there they were functionally not much different from a god, after all.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

I’m tempted to name this one Autochthon.

On that topic, ineffable beings who destroy worlds just by being in them sounds awfully familiar. And goodness knows there’s a history of worshiping them. Still, divine punishment is the easy answer. Even if it’s the truth, I imagine Twilight will have some words for the god in question.

[Saix]

Useful information.